Optogenetics in primates: monkey see monkey look

Abstract

Optogenetics has emerged as a powerful tool for studying the neural basis of simple behaviors in rodents and small animals. In the primate model, however, optogenetics has had limited utility because optical methods have not been able to drive behavior. Here, we report that monkeys reliably shift their gaze toward the receptive field of optically driven channelrhodopsin-2-expressing V1 neurons. This result establishes optogenetics as a viable means for the causal analysis of behavior in the primate model.